Win dm ill-regulator



(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 1.. E. B. WILSON. WINDM-ILL REGULATOR. No. 459,982.

Patented Sept. Z2, 1891..

ATTOHNEYS (No Model.)

2 Sheets- Sheet 2.

E. B. WILSON. WINDMILL RBGLATOR.

Patented Sept. 22, 1891.

A TTOHNEYS 1H: sums ruins ce.. monrufno., wnsruucron, o. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDXVARD B, XVILSON, OF CENTRAL CITY, NEBRASKA.

WINDMILL-REGULATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 459,982, dated September 22, 1891.

Application filed April 20, 1891.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. VILSON, of Central City, in the county of Merrick and State of Nebraska, have invented a new and Improved Vindmill-Regulator, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in windmill-regulators, and more especially to regulators for windmills which are used for pumping water; and the object of my invention is to produce a simple, durable, and efficient regulator which will automatically control the movements of the windmill, so as to set the same in operation when the water in the tank becomes low and stop the windmill when the tank is full.

To this end my invention consists in cer- .tain features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similargures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a broken side elevation, partly Y in section, of a windmill and tank provided with my invention. Fig. 1a is a detail plan of the regulator. Fig. 2 is a broken detail View, partly in section, of the ratchet feedwheel and the connection between the wheel and the pumping-rod.Q Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a broken detail sectional view showing the manner in which the ratchet-Wheel is secured to its shaft. Fig. 5 is a broken detail view of the sliding sleeve which is adapted to engage the hub of the ratchet-wheel. Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the sleeve and shaft on the line 6 6 in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation of the lever by which the sleeve is moved. Fig. 3 is a broken enlarged detail edge View of the bell-crank which actuates the.clutchlever. Fig. 9 is a detail side elevation of the bell-crank, showing its position when the water is low in the tank; and Fig. 10 is a similar view, but showing the position of the bell-crank when the tank is partially filled.

The windmill is provided with the usual frame or tower 10, and on the top of this is pivoted a frame 11, which carries a windserm No. 389,643. er@ model.)

wheel 12 and a rudder or vane 13, and the vshaft 14 of the wind-wheel is provided with over pulleys 2l and 21a and is secured at its lower end to a pulley22, which pulley is preferably provided with a grooved face and is secured to a shaft 23, the shaft being mounted in cross-bars 10, which are secured to the main frame 10.

A ratchet-wheel 24 is loosely mounted on the shaft 23 and is provided with an elongated hub 25, which has teeth at its outer edge. The ratchet-wheel 24 is held from moving longitudinally by means of a pin 26, which projects through the shaft and enters opposite grooves 27 in the hub 25, as best shown in Fig. 4. The ratchet-wheel is pre-vented from turning in the wrong direction by means of a gravity-pawl 28, and it is turned forward by means of a pawl 30, which engages the teeth of the wheel and is pivoted to an arm 31, which arm is pivoted on the shaft 23 at one end and at its opposite end is secured to the pumping-rod 16. It will thus be seen that the vertical movement of the rod16 will move the arm 3l up and down and will impart a rotary motion to the ratchet-wheel; but under ordinary circumstances the ratchet-wheel will turn loosely on the shaft. A bent rod 32 is pivoted on the arm 3l, one end of the arm terminating in an eye 33, which encircles the cable 20, and the opposite end of the arm is bent so as to extend beneath the pawl 30, and is weighted, as shown at 34, so that it will normally be held away from the pawl. Vhen the mill is thrown out of gear, the cable 2O will move downward, and the cable has a stop 20L secured thereon by means of a set-screw, which stop will strike the eye 33 and tilt the rod 32, thus raising the pawl 30, so that it will not engage the ratchet-wheel, and the pawl IOC) will thus be held away from the ratchet-wh eel, and if any sudden gusts of wind start the mill it will not turn the ratchet-wheel and any of the mechanism will not be broken.

A sleeve 35 is mounted on the shaft 23 adjacent to the hub 25 of the ratchet-wheel, the sleeve being held by means of apin 36,which enters a keyway in the sleeve, so that it may slide longitudinally on the shaft, but will turn with the shaft. The sleeve 35 has teeth on its inner end to engage the teeth of the hub 25, and is provided with a central annular groove 37 to engage the lever which operates it, and is provided at its outer end with aprojecting lug 38, which'engages one end of a spiral spring 39, this spring being mounted loosely on the shaft 23 between the sleeve and a cross-bar 10, and the outer end of the spring engages a stud 40 on the cross-bar 10a. The tension of the spring is such as to normally push the sleeve 35 into engagement with the hub 25 of the ratchet-wheel, and the spring also has a tendency to turn the sleeve and hub so that when the windmill is to be thrown into gear the spring will revolve the shaft 23 and unwind the cable, so as to allow the vane 13 to be thrown into the wind. A lever 41 is pivoted at one end to a support on the cross-bars 10 and extends transversely across the shaft 23 and sleeve 35, the lever having that portion adjacent to the shaft formed into a ring 42, which embraces the sleeve 35 and which is provided on its inner portion wit-h lugs 43, which enter the groove 37 in the sleeve 35.

It will be noticed trom the foregoing description that the sleeve and the hub of the ratchet-wheel form a clutch which is operated by the lever 4l. The free end of the lever 4l is connected by a wire 44 with the vertical arm 47, which is pivoted on a support 4G. A horizontal arm 4S is pivoted at 49 to the lower end of such vertical arm 47, whereby the two arms form virtually a bell-crank, and may for convenience be termed so. It will be noted, however, that the arm 47 is cut away at 50 to form a beveled shoulder, as shown, which permits some vertical movement of the arm 48 without changing the position of arm 47. A plate 5l is affixed to the support on which the arms 47 48 are pivoted, and is provided near one edge with a stud 52 to engage the arin 47 of the bell-crank lever Vand prevent the lever from being moved too far and with a beveled stud 53 near' the top edge, which stud engages a spring-pressed pin 54 on a plate 55, the said plate being pivoted near its upper end to the upper end of the arm 47 of the belLerank. The lower end of the plate 55 is connected by a wire 5G with an eye 57 on the out-er end of the arm 48 of the bell-crank, and a wire 59 extends downward from an eye 58 on the under side of the arm 48 and is secured at its lower end to a iioat 60, which is arranged within the tank 19.

It will be noticed that the spring-pressed pin 54 is beveled to correspond with the stud 53, so that the pin may slide by the stud in one direction, but will engage it positively in the opposite direction.

The free end of the lever 4l, which operates the clutch, is also provided with a wire 6l, which wire connects with one arm of a bellcrank 62, the crank being pivoted on the cross-bar 10, and the opposite arm of the lever is provided with a depending wire or cable 63, which terminates in a handle 64, and it will thus be seen that the regulator may be operated by hand when the windmill is to be used for other purposes than for filling a tank or in case the tank mechanism should fail to work for any reason.

The operation of the regulator is as follows: The windmill will normally be held into the wind so that the pump-rod 16 will be kept movingvertically, and consequently the ratchet-wheel 24 will be also constantly moved, and the bell-crank 45 is arranged so that normally the pin 54 will engage the stud 53, as in Fig. 9, and the lever 41 will be held so as to keep the sleeve 35 from engaging the hub of the ratchetwheel; but as the tank becomes iilled the float rises, and this raises the arm 48 of the bcllcrank, thus tilting the plate 55 until when the tank is nearly full the pin 54 passes the stud 53, thusperrnitting the spring 39 to throw the sleeve 35 into engagement with the hub 25 of the ratchetwheel. The movement of the ratchet-wheel is then communicated to the shaft 23, and the rotation of the shaftpwll cause the pulley 22 to wind up the cable 20, and this movement will swing the vane or rudder 13 out ot' the wind, thus stopping the mill.` Then the water is lowered again,the weightof the float IOO G0 will swing the bell-crank 45 back to its normal position, thus releasing the clutch and allowing the rudder to swing back into the wind and start the mill, and in this connection it will be noticed that the arms 47 and 48 ofthe bell-crank are constructed so that the inner end of the arm 48 will engage a square portion of the arm 47 and prevent the arms from being spread to form an angle greater than a right angle.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a windmill-regulator, the combination, with the clutch for throwing the wheel into and out of the wind and the clutch-lever, a support arranged adjacent to a tank, and a plate secured to the support, said plate having a stud near one edge and a beveled lug near the top, of two arms acting as a bellcrank pivoted together on such plate and one of them being cut away at its pivot end, thus forminga beveled shoulder, which permits a limited free movement of the lower arm, a plate pivoted on the upper arm of the bellcrank and connected with the other arm, a spring-pressed pin held on the pivoted plate and adapted to engage the beveled stud, and connections between the lower arm and a fioat IIO in the tank and the vertical arm and clutch, substantially as described. l

2. In a windmill-regulator of the character described, the combination, with the regulator-clutch and the lever 4l for operating the latter, of the lever consisting of two arrns 47 and 48, pivoted together andarranged at a right angle, a float arranged in a tank and connected with the lower or horizontal arrn 48, (the ro vertical arm being connected with the clutchlever,) a plate pivoted on the upper arm 47 and connected with the other arm, a springpressed pin mounted on the plate, and astud on the adjacent support to engage the pin, substantially as described.

EDWARD B.y WILSON. Witnesses:

JOSEPH H. NASH, EARL E. NUTT. 

